Interdisciplinary Engagementor people with community service ingrained in them,the question is not whether to get involved, but where.

Venetria Patton, head of the School of Interdisciplinary
Studies and professor of English and African American
studies, knew she would continue her work with the NAACP
when she moved to the Lafayette area in 2003. However, it
was an unexpected phone call about after-school care for
her son that sparked a yearslong passion for the Hanna
Community Center. “I spoke with the director, and the
conversation left me so positive about my move that I
knew this was a special place,” she says of the center and of
Greater Lafayette in general.

Having lived in multiple towns, cities, and even outside
of the United States as a child, Patton has always felt a
strong need to dive into every community and make it her
home. “It was the way I was brought up,” she says. “I had
this sense that you were supposed to give back to others,
that you can’t get anywhere by yourself.” Patton explains
that her parents were both heavily involved in philanthropy
and service work when she was a child.

As her own son has grown up in the Lafayette area,Patton has demonstrated the importance of giving back andhas helped him get involved with the Hanna CommunityCenter as well. “He is very busy with school at Purdue, butI’m hoping I have inoculated him with the communityservice bug,” she beams, going into detail about the serviceprojects he has participated in through Hanna.Not only has community engagement informedPatton’s parenting, but it has also changed her outlookon her students. “I’ve been given a different insight to mystudents,” she says. “I participated in a conversation aboutthe climate for African American students in a local highschool, and the experience helped me think about where thestudents in my own classroom might be coming from.”Patton explains that students’ lives have evolveddrastically from when she was in school. “When I wasin school, I was a full-time student,” she says. “I haveconversations with students at Purdue and in high school,and their time is so constrained with work and obligationsthat I never had to think about.”Although Patton is busy leading the new school, sheremains active in her sorority’s Family StrengtheningCommittee. That service allows her to work closely withHanna on educational programs. In giving back, Patton hasalso developed skills in leadership and communication.“I’ve been able to develop professionally through my timeon the board of the Hanna Center,” she says. “While I wasgiving to Hanna, they were giving me invaluable tools I usein my professional life. You can learn so much from otherswhile giving back, and that is really powerful to me.”